Daily Archives: March 16, 2012

Michael Schumacher put Mercedes on top of second practice for the Australian Grand Prix.

Like first practice, this session began wet, but slowly dried out over the afternoon.

As the track was even wetter than before, there was very little dry running for the teams. Schumacher pipped Nico Hulkenberg by a tenth of a second near the end of the day.

Sergio Perez spun his Sauber into the gravel at Turn 14, but was able to continue. Mark Webber, Jean-Eric Vergne, Heikki Kovalainen and Daniel Ricciardo all had off-track moments in the tricky conditions.

Marussia improved well compared to FP1. Timo Glock managed 12th, just behind the Red Bulls, and ahead of the McLarens.

However, HRT had another dismal session. Pedro de la Rosa did a single installation lap, while Narain Karthikeyan was 13 seconds off the pace after 16 laps. The team struggled massively with hydraulic problems.

Kamui Kobayashi had a spectacular end to the session, weaving manically for control exiting the final corner before spinning 180 degrees.

The session began wet, catching out Nico Rosberg on his out lap. However, the track soon dried out, and the last half hour allowed for use of the slick tyres.

After half an hour, HRT’s only car for FP1, being driven my Narain Karthikeyan, stopped out on track with an engine issue. Pedro de la Rosa’s car was still being assembled during the day, and has been granted immunity from scrutineering by the FIA.

Kimi Raikkonen spent most of his day in the pits complaining of steering problems. He eventually made it out to set 8 laps, finishing 9th.

Felipe Massa touched the grass of Turn 9 under braking, and spun into the gravel trap. His teammate, Fernando Alonso, held a slide on his Ferrari on his final lap at the last corner. So far the F2012 appears to be a handful for both drivers.